Download Cundari Ch 23 PPT - Franklin High School

Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age
1869-1896
Chapter 23
A.P. US History
I.
The ‘Bloody Shirt’ Elects Grant
A. Ulysses S. Grant’s Troubled Presidency
 In 1868, Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant for
president – the most
popular Northern war hero
 Grant, politically
inexperienced and culturally
narrow, was often a poor
judge of people
 Republicans called for
continued military
‘Reconstruction’ of the
South and a ‘tight money’
policy
I.
The ‘Bloody Shirt’ Elects Grant
A. Ulysses S. Grant’s Troubled Presidency
• Democrats chose Horatio Seymour, who campaigned on a
platform that attacked military ‘Reconstruction’ as
unconstitutional and the ‘Republican’s’ ‘tight money’ policy
• Grant won the 1868 election against Seymour [214 electoral
votes to 80] – the popular vote margin was only 309,000
• In the election, the ‘Republican’ Party ‘waived the bloody shirt’
to ensure the vote of Union Army veterans, and counted on the
black ‘Republican’ vote in the South to win
• By the time of Grant’s election, white Northerners were already
weary of dealing with all of the issues associated with
‘Reconstruction’
I.
The ‘Bloody Shirt’ Elects Grant
A. Ulysses S. Grant’s Troubled Presidency
(cont.)
 As President, Grant hoped to implement policies aimed at
‘sectional’ reconciliation and ensuring justice for
‘freedmen’ in the South
 However, his administration suffered a series of scandals
that generated public disgust – a result of his poor
judgment in naming former military cronies and in-laws to
cabinet posts and other positions
 The first scandal involved the ‘Credit Mobiliér’ – a
construction company [formed by major stockholders of
the Union Pacific RR] which was hired to build part of
the first transcontinental railroad line
 The ‘Credit Mobiliér’ inflated construction invoices that it
billed to the U.S. government – earning profits of 348%
which were distributed to Union Pacific RR insiders, key
Congressmen, and Vice President Schuyler Colfax
I.
The ‘Bloody Shirt’ Elects Grant
A. Ulysses S. Grant’s Troubled Presidency
(cont.)
• The second scandal of Grant’s administration involved the
‘Whiskey Ring’ – a scheme, involving Grant’s own private
secretary, that robbed the Treasury of millions in excise-tax
revenues between 1874 and 1875
• In 1876, a third major scandal enveloped the Grant
administration – the so-called ‘Indian Ring’ scandal
centered on bribes paid to Secretary of War William
Belknap
• The ‘Indian Ring’ scandal involved bribery of government
officials by individuals seeking supplier concessions on
Indian reservations – suppliers contracted with the
government to deliver cattle, clothing, blankets and other
goods to Indians under treaty provisions
I.
The ‘Bloody Shirt’ Reelects Grant
A. Ulysses S. Grant’s Troubled Presidency
(cont.)
• Despite the taint of corruption, Grant won reelection in
1872, winning 56 percent of the popular vote [286
Electoral votes to 66] – largely because (1) ‘Republicans’
again waived the ‘bloody shirt’, and (2) the nation felt a
sense of deep appreciation and affection for the man who
saved the ‘Union’ during the ‘Civil War’
Former Confederate States Under Reconstruction
Dates of Readmission & ‘Redeemer’ Governments
Plantation Agriculture / Sharecropping
The Gilded Age: (1870-1900)
• Government:
– Filled with scandal, corruption
– Encouraged economic growth
– Enacted weak regulation of business
– Women:
• Sought equal rights
• Initiated growth in Suffrage Movement
• Founded women’s colleges
• African Americans:
–
–
–
–
Suffered wave of racism
Become disenfranchised
Segregated by Plessey vs. Ferguson
“Forgotten”
The Captains of Industry:
• Social Darwinism + Gospel of Wealth+
Laissez Faire Economics =
– “Survival of the Fittest”, “God’s Chosen
People”, “To let one do”
• Environment for economic growth
• Formation of corporations and trusts
• Boom and Bust Economy- Economic
expansion ended dramatically by periods of
depression.
• The Pool- Business arrangement used in
1870-1880 where several companies
agreed to divide available business in one
area amongst each other to prevent
competition by controlling prices.
• Why would customers not like a “pool”?
• Pools become banned. Trusts are now
formed.
Robber Barons/Captains of Industry:
• John D. Rockefeller- oil
• Andrew Carnegie- steel
• JP Morgan- investment banker
• Cornelius Vanderbilt- steamboat business
III.
Presidential Politics in the ‘Gilded Age’
C. Garfield & Arthur (cont.)
• President Garfield, like his
predecessor, faced the
challenging task of remaining
independent – walking a
political line between
pacifying ‘party bosses’ and
placating the ‘reformers’
• By the 1880 election, the
federal bureaucracy included
nearly 150,000 jobs – and
thousands of office seekers
typically descended on D.C.
looking for federal jobs
III.
Presidential Politics in the ‘Gilded Age’
C. Garfield & Arthur (cont.)
 Guiteau, when arrested,
reportedly stated, “I am a
Stalwart. Arthur is now
President of the United
States.” – implying that,
with Garfield’s
assassination, ‘Stalwarts’
would get the good jobs
they deserved
 After the assassination,
Washington politicians were
shocked into reforming the
corrupt ‘spoils system’ –
and Chester A. Arthur, a
‘Stalwart’ became an
instrument of change
III.
Presidential Politics in the ‘Gilded Age’
C. Garfield & Arthur (cont.)
• In 1883, President Chester Arthur signed the ‘Pendleton
Civil Service Act’ – a virtual ‘Magna Carta’ for much
needed reforms
• The ‘Pendleton Act’ provided for (1) creation of a Civil
Service Commission to make appointments to federal jobs
on a competitive basis rather than by ‘patronage’ and (2)
outlawed compulsory campaign contributions by federal
employees
• The Civil Service Commission classified jobs under a merit
system that required prospective government employees to
take competitive examinations
III.
Presidential Politics in the ‘Gilded Age’
E. The ‘Tariff ’ and the Politics of Protection
• In the 1880s, the ‘tariff ’ issue resurfaced as a major issue in
American politics – the tariff had been raised during the
‘Civil War’ to (1) generate additional revenues for the war
effort and (2) to reward the ‘Republicans’ industrial
supporters with additional protection from foreign
competition
• However, by the 1880s, the high tariff was bringing in more
money than the Treasury and Congress could spend –
generating a huge ‘surplus’ amounting to almost a billion
dollars
• This money sat in the Treasury’s vaults – depriving the
nation of money that could otherwise have been spent to
create jobs and products
IV.
Economic Issues & Shifting Political Alliances
A. The ‘Panic of 1893’ & Depression
 By February 1894, U.S. gold reserves fell to $41 million –
prompting President Cleveland to turn to J. Pierpont Morgan’s
‘Wall Street’ banking syndicate
 Early in 1895, Cleveland and J.P. Morgan negotiated a loan of
$65 million in gold to the U.S. Government – successful
negotiations that temporarily restored public confidence in the
nation’s finances
 Much criticism of the deal followed, and the press incorrectly
claimed that both the president and Morgan reaped huge
personal benefits from the transaction
 It was rumored that Morgan pocketed $8.9 million in the deal
– in actuality he earned approximately $300,000 in
commissions
V.
Clash of Cultures
A. Class Conflict & Ethnic Clashes
• By 1852, approximately 20,000 Chinese had arrived to join
the gold rush – in America they faced white miners
determined to keep “California for Americans”
• California passed foreign license laws requiring the payment
of prohibitively expenses fees – these laws were designed to
limit competition from foreigners, particularly the hardworking Chinese
• Still, Chinese immigration continued and some found work
in the bonanza mines of Nevada
• Between 1865 and 1869, the Central Pacific Railroad
[incorporated by Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Collis
Huntington & Co.] employed an army of 12,000 Chinese
workers – work gangs of Chinese workers proved to be
highly reliable and hard-working
V.
Clash of Cultures
A. Class Conflict & Ethnic Clashes (cont.)
 California, like the rest of the United States, experienced a
rise of ‘Nativism’ against the massive waves of
immigrants – many Americans at the time did not believe
in racial equality and questioned the wisdom of
assimilating ‘nonwhite’ groups into the population
 In 1882, Congress responded to public pressure by
passing the ‘Chinese Exclusion Act’ barring further
Chinese immigration into the United States
Chinatown, San Francisco
Populist Party
• Populist Party began as the Farmer’s Alliance in 1892
– 1st Third Party, very popular among farmers of the west/south
– Denounced government corruption but also the fact that the government did
not do anything to protect regular people
• Party Platform wanted
• Initiative (a procedure by which a specified number of voters may propose
a statute, constitutional amendment, or ordinance, and compel a popular
vote on its adoption. -- Progressive)
• Referendum (the principle or practice of referring measures proposed or
passed by a legislative body to the vote of the electorate for approval or
rejection--Progressive )
• Income tax ( 16th Amendment -- Progressive)
• Free coinage of silver (tried to flood the economy with silver to increase
prices to benefit the farmer – questionable)
• Government ownership of the railroads/telephone/telegraph
• Direct election of senators (17th Amendment – Progressive)
Populist Party
• 1 term limit on the president
• Shorter work days (Progressive)
• Immigration restrictions
• Put up a presidential candidate in 1892 – he did not
win, but other candidates at the state & local levels did
win
• The Populist Party makes a come back in 1896 when
they threw their support to William Jennings Bryan
V. Clash of Cultures
A. Class Conflict & Ethnic Clashes (cont.)
• The ‘Great Railroad Strike of 1877’ ended after several
weeks of fighting between federal troops and workers –
battles which left over a hundred people dead and exposed
the weakness of the labor movement
Violence From the ‘Great Railroad Strike of 1877’
Rail Workers Went on Strike in Several States